THE WOMAN WHO IS ALLERGIC TO WATER
THERE are well known allergies to grass, eggs, nuts and wheat but an Anglesea woman is not only allergic to some foods, she is also allergic to water.
Bek Ten Hoopen, 28, loves water and even works in the sea regularly as a marine reserve emergency volunteer.
But some types of water are also her greatest peril. She can’t have a cup of tea with a friend, a shower, walk past water features or walk near the cleaning aisle in the supermarket.
“I’d never wish this upon anyone because, at times it can be frustrating and I ask why I have to be allergic to this,” Ms Ten Hoopen said.
“But it’s all about how you manage it and that’s partly about not hiding it from people. If you hide it, it can feel like you’re the only person in the world with the condition.”
In fact she is only one of two people known to suffer a severe allergy to chlorine in Australia. If she drinks tap water, cleans her bathroom with bleach products or even stays in a hotel room that is near the swimming pool, she could suffer an anaphylactic response.
“It actually is life threatening for me so it takes a lot of preparation and management,” she said.
“I had to attend a work event at Crown last year but I knew that they had a water feature at the entrance. I just rang Crown and they let me enter and leave via the back entrance. People are usually very accommodating.
“Inhaling the chlorine in the air from that water feature would likely cause a range of symptoms for me.”
The allergy began in her teens when she would develop hayfever-like symptoms within a couple of hours after swimming in the public pool.
The symptoms worsened and she suffered a bad anaphylactic episode in 2013, being formally diagnosed the following year with a severe chlorine allergy.
“I will go from feeling OK to just wanting to go to sleep immediately and my cough hurts. It’s a horrible feeling and process so I do everything I can to avoid it,” she said.
All of the water in her kitchen and bathroom taps is filtered.
Ms Ten Hoopen is one of the allergy sufferers whose issues will be explored at this weekend’s Allergy Show, featuring a range of seminars and talks on gut health, food intolerances and how to create a healthier home. The Allergy Show is on at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.